New health and safety laws will push workplaces back to 'Victorian era', AM warns

Pontypridd AM Mick Antoniw says worker would have to rely on the common law

An amendment to health and safety law proposed by the UK Government will take workers’ protection back to the Victorian era unless it is defeated, a Labour AM has claimed.

Section 61 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill removes statutory civil liability from employers in the event that an employee is injured at work.

Employers could be prosecuted under criminal law, but a worker would have to rely on the common law to bring an action in a civil court.

Pontypridd AM Mick Antoniw, who before being elected to the National Assembly last year was a solicitor specialising in workplace negligence claims, said: “Getting rid of statutory civil liability will make it immensely more difficult for workers to win compensation if they are injured at work.

“Proving a case using common law is notoriously hard, and would involve looking in detail at the steps taken by the employer to protect workers. With statutory protection, you win a case if you can prove that you incurred injury in the workplace.”

As an example, Mr Antoniw referred to the case of Port Talbot nurse Alison Dugmore, who was forced to abandon her career due to a latex allergy. She gave up nursing in 1997 after experiencing asthma, skin problems and severe allergy attacks after using hospital gloves. Five years later she was awarded £240,000 compensation, which was later increased to £354,000 because Swansea NHS Hospital Trust had delayed settling the case.

Mr Antoniw said: “There is no way she would have won compensation if she had been forced to rely on common law.

“I believe the UK Government has succumbed to pressure from insurance companies, which know very well that with the restrictions on legal aid already in place it will already be difficult for most workers to run a case. Removing this protection will take workers back to Victorian times, before a landmark court ruling in 1898 opened up the realistic possibility of suing employers.”

Mr Antoniw said that if Section 61 remains, the protection offered by current statutory regulations covering asbestos, noise, vibration and hazardous substances would be lost.

A UK Government spokesman said: “The amendment introduced at report stage of the Enterprise Bill does not remove the right of individuals to bring a personal injury claim against their employer.

“The law is being changed so that in future claims can only be brought where negligence on the part of the employer can be proved. This is fairer, ensuring employers always have the opportunity to defend themselves on the basis of having done what was reasonable.

“Employees will continue to have the same level of health and safety protection currently provided under criminal law, which is not being changed, and they will still be able to claim compensation where an employer has been negligent.”

It is understood the Government’s position has been influenced by a review of health and safety law carried out by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt of King’s College, London. The professor identified what he saw as an “unfairness” that arises where some health and safety regulations impose a strict duty on employers, making them legally responsible for damages, regardless of whether they have taken reasonable measures to protect their employees.

The UK Government takes the view that this fuels belief in a “compensation culture” which is having a significant effect on the behaviour and attitudes of business, driving them to over comply with regulations for fear of being sued, which creates unnecessary costs.

But Mr Antoniw said: “I find the UK Government’s approach disingenuous, to say the least. There was no consultation at all before this amendment was slipped in. In my view this is dishonest and the sort of thing one would expect from a dictatorship rather than from a Government operating transparently in a democratic society.

“I very much hope that the House of Lords will throw out Section 61 when it debates the Bill.”

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